Investing.com – Australia equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.32% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Northern Star Resources Ltd (AX:NST), which rose 7.43% or 0.350 points to trade at 5.060 at the close. St Barbara Ltd (AX:SBM) added 7.19% or 0.205 points to end at 3.055 and Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (AX:SAR) was up 5.68% or 0.090 points to 1.675 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Beach Energy Ltd (AX:BPT), which lost 3.72% or 0.023 points to trade at 0.583 in late trade. Syrah Res F (AX:SYR) declined 3.41% or 0.160 points to end at 4.530 and Origin Energy Ltd (AX:ORG) shed 2.75% or 0.160 points to 5.650.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 682 to 413 and 319 ended unchanged on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The S&P/ASX 200 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/ASX 200 options, was down 3.96% to 14.172 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.90% or 11.95 to $1346.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.31% or 0.13 to hit $42.05 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.27% or 0.12 to trade at $44.03 a barrel.
AUD/USD was up 0.45% to 0.7525, while AUD/JPY fell 0.08% to 78.89.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.11% at 96.64.